Robert Trussell

September 1, 2016

So Many Choices

As Kansas City theater companies open their 2016-2017 seasons, here’s what subscribers and prospective theatergoers can expect: Drama. Comedy. Dramedy (or, if you prefer, tragicomedy). Classics (or, if you prefer, old chestnuts). Musicals, new and old. And no shortage of local, regional and world premieres.

August 14, 2016

Nedra Dixon does Billie Holiday in Spinning Tree Theatre’s ‘Lady Day’

The history of American music is filled with the brilliant, the tragic and the doomed. But few artists embody all three, and fewer still endure..

August 13, 2016

Kansas City Actors Theatre’s ‘I’m Not Rappaport’ Has a Touch of Arthritis

Kansas City Actors Theatre enjoys a deserved reputation as a company that introduces heady new plays to local theatergoers. They also revisit classics, often with breathtaking results. KCAT short-changes itself by opening its 12th season with a creaky play that was a Broadway hit in 1985 but feels stale.

July 16, 2016

Thoughtful Surrealism and British Silliness at the Invasion

Finding new ways to tell stories on stage is something theatergoers should root for. So The Warriors: A Love Story scores points from the get-go...

July 15, 2016

Sex, Murder and All That Jazz at the New Theatre

The New Theatre production of Chicago may be the most technically polished show in the venerable Overland Park dinner theater’s history. That, at least, is..

June 20, 2016

A Serious Musical Rooted in History Packs a Punch at the MET

Parade is my kind of show — tough, unsentimental and clear-eyed in its condemnation of social injustice. Playwright Alfred Uhry examined the cultural schizophrenia of..

June 18, 2016

The Shakespeare Festival Views “Twelfth Night” Through a 1920s Lens

The Bard meets Broadway in the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s production of Twelfth Night. The show proves to be an inventive amusement buoyed by..

June 5, 2016

Heathers: The Musical at the Unicorn is a Bit Manic But Has Something to Say

Heathers: The Musical, in its first Kansas City production, brings together many of the best young musical-theater actors in town. There’s so much talent onstage..

Author: Robert Trussell